Corps
of Engineers and state of Louisiana sign historic Coast 2050 study agreement

NEW ORLEANS
--

The New Orleans District,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Louisiana Department of Natural
Resources today held an historic signing ceremony in Baton Rouge to launch
a major coastal wetlands study.

With the signing of the
Coast 2050 Feasibility Cost Share, the agencies this month will initiate
a $6-million feasibility study of the Barataria Basin. The study will
be completed in September 2001.

New Orleans District Engineer
Col. Thomas Julich and DNR Secretary Jack Caldwell signed the cost share
agreement that requires each agency to provide about $3 million over the
next two years to fund the study.

"This is potentially
the largest and most ambitious effort to date by the Corps of Engineers
as it applies to coastal restoration," said Julich. "We can
relate this to the massive effort to build the Mississippi River and Tributaries
Project after the 1927 flood."

Caldwell said the basin
study would lay the foundation for pursuing funding sources other than
the Breaux Act. "We will be preparing ready-to-go projects so that
we can take advantage of potential funding sources such as the Water Resources
Development Act and possibly CARA monies (offshore oil and gas royalty
revenues) if current federal legislation passes this year," Caldwell
said.

"The Breaux Act has
emphasized construction of coastal wetlands restoration and protection
projects," said Sen. Breaux. "I am very pleased to see the Coast
2050 plan builds upon the success of the Breaux Act, which will maintain
Louisiana's wetlands for our children and grandchildren."

"This is more than
just another 'study.' This is the beginning of a comprehensive, aggressive
plan to save Louisiana's coastline," added Congressman Billy Tauzin
of Chackbay, who spearheaded the effort to secure federal funding for
the project. "Coast 2050 is the greatest legacy we can leave to our
children and to future generations."

The Barataria Basin was
selected as the first area for study and action because it is the most
critical, losing about 11 square miles annually. When completed the study
could result in restoration projects totaling as much as $3.5 billion
within that highly impacted coastal basin. The study, entitled "Louisiana
Coastal Area, Louisiana-Ecosystem Restoration, Barrier Island Restoration,
Marsh Creation, and River Diversion, Barataria Basin Feasibility Study,"
will focus on marsh creation, barrier shoreline restoration and river
diversion strategies. Other coastal feasibility studies are planned in
the future.

There have been many efforts
by local, state and federal interests over the last 30 years to understand
and address coastal land loss problems. Regional and local projects to
restore and protect coastal Louisiana have been accomplished through the
Breaux Act. And initiatives such as the Barataria-Terrebonne National
Estuary Program have increased environmental awareness in the state and
nation.

In response to the catastrophic
rate of coastal land loss in Louisiana, a grass roots effort termed the
Coast 2050 Initiative was conducted across coastal Louisiana under the
Breaux Act banner. Coast 2050 stakeholders participated in a series of
workshops throughout 1998 that addressed coastal loss and strategies required
to address the problems.

Since 1991, Breaux Act
funding to Louisiana has amounted to about $40 million a year. However,
there is still a large disparity between the trends of loss and the present
restoration program. Federal and state officials overseeing the effort
estimate that an additional $14 billion in funding will be needed to fully
implement the Coast 2050 strategy and restore a collapsing coastal ecosystem.

The signing took place
in the governor's Press Conference Room at the State Capitol. Coastal
officials from across the state, legislators, environmentalists and activists
attended the ceremony.